Wood-soaking tower.



fm. L. BERGER @L H. GUETTLER. I WOOD SOAKIVNG TOWER.

AFPucATlpN FILED nec. 6. |911.. LQML Patented oct. 29,4912'5.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

0. L. BERGER R H. GUETTL'ER. woon soARlNG TOWER.

APPLICATION. FILED DEC. 6| I9l.

Patented 0013.29, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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' OLE LUDVIG BERGER, PORT EDWARDS, WISCONSIN, AND HERBERT GUETTLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIG'NORS TO FIBER MAKING PROCESSES, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS. l

WOOD-SOAKING TOWER.

aaeaoai.

Specification of Letters Patent.

'Patented oet. aa, raie Application filed December 6, 1917. Serial No. 205,312.

To all whom z't may concern:

Be it known that we, OLE LUDvIG BERGER,

a citizen of the United` States, residing 'at Port Edwards, county of Wood, State f Wisconsin, and HERBERT GUETTLER, a subject of the King of Norway, residing at Chicago,

v county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wood-Soaking Towers; and we do hereby called, particularly adapted for treating logs before they are fedto apparatus for.

' removing the bark.

Vrotating drum within which the logs are It is found that with the use of such appara-tus, especially of the type comprising a placed, the removal of the bark by the tumbling action of the logs upon each other is greatly facilitated if the logs are soaked for some time before being barked.

An object of the present invention is the provisionof an apparatus of simple and substantial construction by means of which the preliminarysoaking of the logs may be carried out with a minimum expenditure of labor and power. vBriefly described, the apparatus comprises a tower into the top of which the logs are fed and through which they move graduallyuntil they finally reach a conveyer at the base of the tower by which they are carried'away to the barking drum or other apparatus. Means are provided at the top of the tower for supplying hot water, or a suitable solution which will tend to loosen the bark from the logs. In order to t maintain a circulation of the liquid through the tower, the means for supplying the liquid to the top of the tower has a connection leading to the bottom of the tower from which locality the liquid may be drawn and. then pumped into a discharge jet at the top of the tower. rIhe wall of the tower is provided with one or more openings to permit access to the interior for examination of the logs or removal of the same in case ofV necessity. Within the base of the tower-'is a conveyerby means of which the logs may be carried away to. a flume for delivery to the -ratus along line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference characters denote similar parts 1n the different vlews, 10 represents a tower which may be constructed of cement, conv crete or any other appropriatematerial and which is mounted upon a base portion vl1 which may also be constructed of the same or of different material as desired. While the base portion of the apparatus is of substantially rectangular form, the tower itself is preferably circular, with its sides converging toward the top. If necessary, the interior of the tower may be lined, as indicated at 12, with metal or any appropriate material suitably resistant to the liquid used for treating the logs. llhis liquid may be hot fresh water, or in case the apparatus is used in paper mills where a supply of sulfite liquor is available, the latter may be heated and used in the soaking tower. rlhe liquid is supplied to the top of the tower by a pump 13 which in the present case is shown as a simple centrifugal pump having its main intake 14 leading from the base of the apparatus and its outlet port connected to a pipe v15 which discharges against a dedector 16 attached to a cover 18 which also serves to lessen the loss of liquid by evaporation from the top of the tower. 'Io provide for renew- A ing the liquid from time to time, the pump the tower a door 23 hinged las at 24, is provided to permit access to the interior of the tower for the purpose of cleaning the same, or for breaking up a log jam, ifone should form.

Beneath a portion of the tower is an inclined perforated' shelf 25. The remainin portion of the base of the apparatus is .formed as a tank 26 above whichis a conveyer 27 having one end adjacent the lower end of shelf 25. The conveyer comprises wheels 28 over which pass a number of chains 29 having upon their outer surfaces angle bars 30 to engage the logs and carry them out ofthe tank. The conveyer may be made up with two sections of chains and angle bars ,'as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The forward wheels of each section of theconveyer may beattached to a common shaft 31 mounted in bearings 32 in the side walls ofthe tank. One end of the shaft is extended beyond the wall andcarries a driving .pulley 33 belted to a source of power. While the rear set ofl wheels 28 may be mounted -in similar bearings attached to the side walls of the base of the apparatus, it .is preferable to mount i this set of. wheels so as to permit of vertical movement. For this pur ose, the conveyer I has a frame work comprising longitudinal bars 34 supported, at the forward end of the apparat-us, upon the shaft 31 and having, at the rear of the conveyor, slots 35 to receive the shaft 36 of the corresponding set of wheels/28. This shaft is, at its ends,.sup

ported in bearin blocks 37 slidably mount ed in slotted brac ets 38 attached to the horizontal floor of the tank. The bearing blocks are threaded toreceive screws 39 which are mounted in bearings in the brackets and have bevel gears 40 coperating with bevel gears 41 -on the ends of shafts 42 extending v through the side walls of the base of fthe a paratus. The outer ends of these shafts are t us in positionto be conveniently reached by the operator of the apparatusandl are provided 'with hand wheels 43 by which they may be rotated. To prevent the travellng .parts of the conveyer'from sagging under the weight of the logs, transverse bars 44 are attached to the upper edges o'the supporting bars 34, and the conveyer chains travel along guides 45 attached'to the upper edges of bars 44. The chains have en'ou h slack tapermit the Vertical movement of t e rear end of the conveyer as described above.-v

At the outer end of the conveyer is a flume having a side-wall 43 and a b ase47 upon .which is a belt or 'sham 48 havmg upstandf ing 4members 49 to engage-the logs and carry them through the lHume to thet apparatus where the bark is to be removed. For the purpose of supplying steam to the. water or When the apparatus is brought 4into use initially, enough logs are supplied to the tower to completely fill the same and hot fresh water or hot sulte liquor is sprayed down from the plate 16 and may be perlonger as may be necessary `to properly' loosen the bark so that it can subsequently be removed by the barking drum. lnthe initial operation of the apparatus, after the logs in the immediate vicinity of the conveyer 27 have beenV sufficiently treated, they may be gradually removed by starting this conveyer into operation. Thereafter, 'fresh logs are supplied from time to time to the top of the apparatus and undergo treatment, the duration of which depends upon the length of time it takes for the logs to pass down through the 'tower to the conveyer, it being intended thatthe latter part of the apparatus shall be operated slowly, or if necessary only at intervals, to remove the logs gradually and thus insure that they shall remain within the tower for a .suflicient length of time to complete the soaking operation. By

means of the mechanism for adjusting the position of the inner end of the conveyer the latter may be set at any angle most desirable for insurmg the removal of the logs as they reach the base of the tower. During the operation of the apparatus the water or other liquid should be supplied through the pipe l5 at such a rate as tocause it-to trickle over the mass-of logswithin the tower, and it may be kept ot by steam supplied throughpipe 50.j There will, of course. be a certain loss of liquid due to evaporation and absorption by the wood and bark, and this must be made u supply of fresh llquid taken in through the pipe 17 and forced vinto the tower by the from time to time by a` the invention has been illlustrated in the e drawings, it will be understood that various changes in the 'details of the apparatus may be made without departing 7from theprinciple of the invention.- p

yWe claim:

1. Apparatus for treating logs preliminary to removing bark therefrom, compris- .mg a tank, a tower, above and communicatingwith the tank, means for feedin logs into the top of the tower, means at t e top of the tower for v/supplymg liquid thereto Vand means in theitank for removing logs 2. Apparatus for treating logs preliminary to removing bark therefrom comprising a tank, a tower above and communicating with the tank, meansfor feeding logs into the top of thetower, means at the top of the towerlfor supplying liquid thereto, means for withdrawing liquid from the tank and meanslin the tank for removing logs therefrom.

3. Apparatus for treating logs preliminary to removing bark therefrom, comprising a tower having an inclined floor and a horizontal floor, a conveyer mounted above the horizontal floor with one end adjacent the lower end of the inclined floor, means for feeding logs into the top of the tower, and means at the top of the tower for supplying liquid thereto.

4. Apparatus for treating logs preliminary to removing bark therefrom comprising a tank, a tower above and communicating wit the tank, means for supplying liquid at the top of the tower, means for feeding logs into the top of the tower, means communicating with said tank and said supplyingmeans by which liquid may be 'withdrawn from the tank and means in the tank for conveying logs therefrom.

5. Apparatus for treating logs preliminary to removing bark therefrom comprising'a tower having an inclined perforated Hoor and a tank beneath said tower, a conveyer mounted in the tank with one end adjacent the edge of the inclined floor, means whereby the said end of the conveyer may be raised or lowered, means for supplying steam beneath the inclined floor, and means whereby logs may be supplied to the upper endof the tower.

6. Apparatus for treating logs preliminary to removing bark therefrom comprising a base, a tank in said base, a tower above the base and communicating with the tank, a pump, a passage-way between the tank and the pump, a" supply pipe communicating with the pump, a pipe leading from the pump to the top of the tower and a deiector `at 4the top of the tower adjacen the end of the last named pipe.

7. Apparatus for treating logs preliminary to removing bark therefrom, comprising a base, a tank within the base, and a tapering circular tower above the base and provided with a door near the base.

8. Apparatus for treating logs preliminary to removing bark therefrom, comprising a base, a tank in the base, a log honveyer within the tank, a tapering circular tower above the base, and provided with an aperture in its upper wall through which lill) logs may be fed, and means within they tower above the aperture for supplying liquid to logs within the tower.

9. Apparatus for treating logs preliminary to removing bark therefrom, comprising a base, a tank within the base, and a tapering circular tower above the base and provided with a door near the base and having a lining of suitable liquid resistant material.

10. Apparatus for treating logs preliminary to removing bark therefrom. comprlsing a tower having an inclined fioor and a Ihorizontal floor, a conveyer mounted above the horizontal floor with one end adjacent the lower end of the inclined floor, means for feeding logs into the top of the tower, means at the top of the tower for supplying liquid thereto and means adjacentthe other end of the conveyer for conveying logs from said apparatus after being discharged from the conveyer.

In testimony whereof we afIiX our signatures.

OLE LUDVIG BERGER. HERBERT GUETTLER. 

